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FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA.—Crews fighting to save Fort McMurray from rampaging flames water bombed the city Thursday to try to keep away a wildfire so intense it has spawned its own weather.

“It was creating its own high winds yesterday and even lightning was coming from the smoke clouds it created,” Chad Morrison of Alberta Forestry told a briefing in Edmonton.

Last year, Alberta's government declared a state of emergency after wildfires prompted the evacuation of over 80,000 people from Fort McMurray. Plumes of smoke and roads lined with cars could be seen from the air.

Officials could not update the number of structures that have burned — already at 1,600 — saying crews had not had the time.

“This is an extreme fire event,” said Morrison.

“Our first priority, obviously, was the community and the homes as well as the critical infrastructure.”

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Morrison said there were 22 water bombers at work and more were coming in, including four from Quebec.

“But let me be clear: air tankers are not going to stop this fire,” he said.

“It is going to continue to push through these dry conditions until we actually get some significant rain.”

Crews received a small break Thursday with temperatures forecast to fall to 16 C from the low 30s. But low humidity and high winds were expected to keep the situation fluid and dangerous.

“I expect this fire to continue to grow,” said Morrison.

A wildfire moves towards the town of Anzac on Wednesday. Anzac was set up as an evacuation centre for those ordered to leave Fort McMurray. (Jason Franson / AP)

A burned-out truck in the Beacon Hill area of Fort McMurray on Wednesday. (Sylvian Bascaron / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Evacuees watch the wildfire near Fort McMurray on Wednesday. The wildfire has already torched 1,600 homes and buildings. (JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The risk in the rest of the province also remains high and a province-wide fire ban was issued Thursday afternoon.

Premier Rachel Notley told a news conference that officials cannot speculate on when it might be safe for residents to return to the city except that “it will not be a matter of days.”

She said even when the fire situation is brought under control, officials will need time to assess buildings and infrastructure so people can be brought back safely.

“I know this experience is heartbreaking ... and a devastating experience for individuals and for the families that are affected,” she said. “I understand the Albertans that are affected by this tragedy are scared, and very tired, and very worried about their homes and what the future holds for themselves and their families.

“Trust us that we have your backs.”

Notley also said in coming days there will be more information about concrete aid for evacuees, including government-issued cash cards and temporary housing options.

She asked all evacuees “whether you’re in the reception centre or you’re staying in your friend’s rec room” to register themselves either online or by phoning the Red Cross, adding it is crucial to the province’s ability to assess what support everyone requires.

The fire, which had been menacing the oilsands capital since the weekend, rode a rapid shift in winds Tuesday afternoon to cut through the city on an east-west axis. It divided the main road and sent 80,000 residents fleeing in opposite directions under a mandatory evacuation order.

Aided by high winds, scorching heat and low humidity, the fire grew from 75 square kilometres Tuesday to 100 square kilometres on Wednesday. By Thursday it was almost nine times that at 850 square kilometres — roughly equivalent to the size of Calgary.

The fire remained wrapped around the west and southern edges of the city. If Fort McMurray were the face of a clock, flames surrounded it from the numbers four to 11.

Evacuees began their second full day out of their homes. About 25,000 remained in oilfield work camps north of the city, while the rest had moved south to stay in hotels, in campgrounds, with friends or in designated centres that included Edmonton.

The government said it would begin to move out the evacuees in the camps so that they could get more social support in the south. Highway 63 is the only road through the city and those in the north were cut off when it was barricaded.

Scott Long with Alberta Emergency Management said the agency would move out the most vulnerable — about 8,000 or so — by air.

The plan was to send gasoline trucks in after that to fuel up vehicles for a trip through the city, once safe, and on to the south.

For Stephanie Bird, it began when she received a knock on her door from her brother-in-law at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“He told me everybody was getting evacuated and we had to leave now,” she said. “Take the kids! Get out of the reserve!”

The 28-year-old stuffed clothes for her family of four into a single suitcase and grabbed a mass of blankets and pillows. Her only personal possessions were a few baby pictures and a computer hard drive, which she took just in case the house was looted.

In Ottawa, the federal government promised to match all private donations to the Red Cross.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked across the floor of the House of Commons this morning to embrace interim opposition leader Rona Ambrose after she teared up while speaking of the devastation of the wildfire in her home province.

The natural disaster has prompted the largest fire-related evacuation in the province’s history.

“It’s a tough day for Albertans, but we will persevere,” said Ambrose, the MP for the Alberta riding of Sturgeon River-Parkland.

Ambrose praised the federal government for keeping her in the loop and matching Red Cross donations.

She also urged the government to remember that infrastructure there will take years to rebuild.

Trudeau called images of the wildfire “nothing short of terrifying,” but expressed confidence nonetheless in the nation’s ability to rally.

“We are resilient,” Trudeau said earlier. “We are Canadians and we will make it through this most difficult time together.”

The sentiments were echoed by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who said, “There are times in the House when we have to put everything else aside and pull together and this is one of those times.”

Officials said there were 350 firefighters battling the blaze — 200 of whom were within the city keeping structures safe.

Strathcona County, east of Edmonton, is rotating two, 15-member crews to help battle the enormous wildfire.

The first batch left Sherwood Park on Tuesday night and have been working virtually flat-out since they arrived in the wee hours Wednesday. They were set to head home on Thursday night.

The Strathcona fire department tweeted a photo of six firefighters sprawled on a lawn in Fort McMurray, with another reclining in the trunk of a van.

Deputy operations chief Devin Capcara said the picture was taken at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday during their first bit of rest.

“They took about a 15 to 20 minute break and then went right back to it,” he said.

“Being there, knowing that things are burning, our guys don’t like to take rest breaks so they’ve pretty much been on the trucks the whole time.”

The military was on standby, but had not been called in except for helicopter support to rescue stranded residents.

In the hockey world, the St. Louis Blues and Blues Alumni plan to raise money to help the fire victims at Thursday’s NHL playoff game against the Dallas Stars.

Fort McMurray is the hometown of Blues forward Scottie Upshall and the team plans a 50/50 raffle and silent auction to benefit evacuees.

“You’re just worried about the safety of friends and family,” Upshall said in a prepared statement. “It’s a great city, a city that’s survived many years through some tough times. For me, growing up there doesn’t seem like too long ago, and the places that aren’t standing anymore ... it’d be tough to take in. As long as everyone is OK, that’s the main thing.”

The massive outpouring of support brought an emotional tweet from Melissa Blake, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray.

“Had ti up my twitter font to max; hard to read through tears,” she tweeted on Thursday morning. “I don’t cry for fear loss or horror, only kindness and there (is) SO MUCH”

The fire has proven to be as capricious as it has been hellacious, leveraging high winds to level neighbourhoods in the south and southwest, transforming homes that once housed families into smoky wastelands of concrete, rebar and ash.

Crews have managed to save critical infrastructure, such as the downtown, the hospital and the water treatment plant.

Fire threatened the airport Wednesday, but Long said it sustained “mild damage” and was still in operation.

Officials said they have yet to determine what caused the fire, although they know it started in a remote area about 15 kilometres from the city.

There have been no reports of fire-related deaths or injuries, although two people died in a head-on car crash on one of the secondary evacuation routes Wednesday.

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